In The Name of Set
by Altaria Volante
Summary: In Ancient Egypt, a curse is placed to facilitate a murder. Today, Bill Weasley must break this curse to save the lives people he's never met.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The halls were illuminated as the moon shone brightly from the eastern sky. No one was up, save for the few unlucky souls who were picked to form the night watch. Each one taking his post from the previous, they rotated through the grounds, watching for any forms of life. Usually, they found none. 

This night was no different. If those who were up wanted to be found, they would be found. However, tonight was not a night for leisurely walks or lighthearted talks before bed. 

The first man slipped noiselessly behind the South guard, followed by three others from the East and North entrances. 

The last man came from the West, and startled a guard before reaching his destination. Before the guard could question him, he pulled a cloth from the folds of his covering and pressed it firmly against the guard's mouth. The guard fell with a quiet thump against the marble, and the man quickly moved inside the temple proper. 

He faced the other four assembled and pulled a scroll from his covering. "Forgive my tardiness. I was detained before entering." 

"Will he remember?" 

"No." 

The four nodded, moving to get a glimpse at the scroll the man was opening across a small table. "Brothers," the man began, "the time has come for us to set aside petty squabbles and to move forward with what we know must happen." 

The four men looked and the scroll, catching only sideways glances at each other and willing another to speak first. After what seemed like hours, the man who entered from the south slowly cleared his throat. "What you are asking us to do… it is utter madness." 

"Really?" asked the man who had opened the scroll. "It has been done before. It has been done in more difficult circumstances. It has been done by less capable than us. I don't see what would be holding us back." 

"It would mean death for us all!" exclaimed a man who entered from the East before being quieted by the others. He scowled and leaned forward against the table. "If this was not to succeed, then it would mean certain and painful deaths for us all," he continued in a more hushed tone than before. 

"But if it was to succeed," the man with the scroll continued, "we would be the most powerful men in Egypt." 

The four pulled back, slightly nodding and considering the possibility. "Do you have any idea how we are to go about this?" the man from the north asked. 

The man smiled. "Yes. I have thought many nights on this, and I think in that scroll you will find exactly what we need to go about this." He leaned closer to the four men. "You will be richly rewarded beyond your wildest imagination. Nothing short of the stars will be yours for the taking." 

The man from the north nodded slowly. "I shall agree." 

The pair from the east sighed. "We will trust you on this. The opportunity is too much to pass by." 

The man from the south stood over the scroll, running his finger down the lines of meticulous writing. "Are you in?" the man from the west asked. 

"Yes," the man from the south replied quietly. "May the gods have mercy on my soul." 

"This calls for a celebration!" The man from the west waved his hands over the table, and on top of the scroll appeared five copper goblets of wine. He raised his and smiled while the other four reached tentatively for their own. "To our agreement, my brothers. To the death of the pharaoh!" 

"To the death of the pharaoh!" 


	2. We Only Employ Quality

**Chapter 1: We Only Employ Quality**

"Bill Weasley, I swear if you don't wake up this instant you're going to be on the first boat back to Britain." 

Bill opened one eye tentatively, glancing up at a secretary for Gringotts Banking International, Cairo Division. He grumbled and shifted his head to a more comfortable position - under a week old copy of the _Daily Prophet_ to block out the sunlight. "I'm 'wake," he mumbled. 

The witch crossed her arms and glared down at the curse breaker. "You think that works on me? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't march right down the hall and turn you in for sleeping during company time?" 

Bill smiled groggily, his head still firmly planted on the desk. "I was up until five in the morning retrieving a load of 19th century French gold from the bottom of the Nile." He laughed. "And besides, Nailah," he added, opening his eyes once more under the paper. "You like me too much." 

Nailah shook her head and yanked away the newspaper, causing the man to cringe from the intruding light. "Aw, why'd you have to go and do that?" he groaned. 

"That was two good reasons," Nailah replied, her eyes twinkling. "I only asked for one." 

"Old bat," Bill mumbled, propping his head up on his hand. 

"I heard that," she called from the adjacent office. 

He laughed. "I said you need a hat. It's hot out there today." 

Nailah paused and turned to look at Bill once more, one hand placed firmly on her hip and the other still gripping the horribly out-dated copy of the _Daily Prophet_. "Thank you, Mr. Weasley. I was afraid that it might be a tad chilly today here in Cairo. And me without my winter parka. What would I do without you?" 

"Dress inappropriately for the desert, that's what!" 

Nailah just shook her head. "You're going to drive me mad one day, I just know it…" 

Bill turned to his desk and tried to straighten up the mess his nap had caused. Nothing like a visit from Nailah to start the morning off right. She was an older witch with long, dark hair that was always wrapped up with a scarf. Other people in the office claim that she'd been with the Cairo branch since it opened, but considering that was in 1337, he highly doubted that. Still, as the regional manager's secretary, she ran the office and only because she had decided that Bill reminded her of her 'of a boy she used to know' could he get away with almost anything. 

He leafed through a stack of maps with an assortment of red dots and highlighter circles decorating the canals and landmarks of the Egyptian desert. There had been plenty of small finds, but nothing taking more than an afternoon. And after the successful find last night, today might just end up being a slow day. If he had calculated correctly, after changing the gold coins into Galleons, he pulled up last night around forty thousand Galleons. There wasn't any way he was going to be that find today, so a little time off and a break today, Bill felt, was well deserved. 

"Oh, Bill." Nailah poked her head around the corner once again. "Mr. Leftwick wanted to see you this morning. You need to be in his office in twenty minutes." 

Bill propped his legs up onto his desk and smiled broadly. "I take it he heard about last night's find, eh?" 

Nailah shook her head. "I'm sure that he wants to shower you with blessings and praise. In fact, he may just promote you. Oh, if you're lucky he'll give you my job! And then you can run and get his snacks in the middle of your lunch break when you're supposed to be on break, but that really just means on call." 

"Ms. Nailah," Bill replied, rising from his desk and placing a friendly kiss on her forehead. "I would never dream of that. That would mean you would retire and we both know you're the reason I come in each morning." 

"Oh you are just the falcon prince of my dreams, aren't you?" Nailah laughed. "Well, go on," she added, pushing him in the direction of the goblin's office. "You're going to be late if you just stand here chatting away with me." 

Bill moved quickly down the corridors to the office of his boss, Mr. Leftwick, Vice President of Unclaimed Capital Procurement for Gringotts - Cairo. If there was one thing the goblin insisted on, it was punctuality, and Bill knew better than to test his boss. He pushed open the large wooden doors to the executive suite and quickly cleared his throat. "Mr. Leftwick, you wanted to see me?" 

The goblin turned gaze from the window overlooking the local wizarding bazaar to the employee standing in his doorway. "Ah, Mr. Weasley. Please, come in and take a seat." Bill did as he was told, taking the seat closest to the desk. "I wanted to congratulate you on the job you did last night." 

Bill smiled. "Thank you, sir. It was trapped under a pretty thick invisibility net, and frankly I'm surprised that it came up after just a few days. I was expecting at least two weeks to be honest." 

"Just shows you're quality," Leftwick replied, gruffly. "And we here at Gringotts only employ quality. I know that you're probably thinking that we couldn't find something this soon after your last find." 

"Well, sir, I was hoping that-" 

"And if you thought that, you were wrong," Leftwick finished. "Abdullah Sadat down in Research has gotten a lead on a find in Abydos. It seems that one of the pyramids has been giving off an unusual magical vibration for the past few weeks." 

"How unusual?" 

"Muggles won't even go near it." 

Bill released a slow breath. "That really is unusual." Tourism was one of the leading businesses of Muggle and wizard Egypt, and usually Gringotts had to completely stake out a magical barrier to ward off Muggles from a search site. Pyramids were usually the hardest because they had to not only perform the wards, but instruct a few of the local guides that happened to be Egyptian wizards to pretend that the site didn't exist for the weeks that it was blocked from public consumption. "Do we know what the cause of the signal is?" 

Leftwick shook his head. "We can't be sure until we get someone in there. What we assume is that the pyramid is one of the few in Abydos that hasn't gotten looted in the past few thousand years, and that the vibration is coming from someone intruding and setting off a ward. Which means, if the ward is still in place-" 

"Then there is probably still something valuable down there," Bill finished. 

"This is why we employed you," Leftwick replied. "You are quite quick." 

Bill nodded politely. "When do you want me to head down there?" 

"This afternoon. Sadat will be going with you so that he can point you to what he's found." Leftwick leaned back in his chair. "Just examine the structure and try and find out the basic components of the curse. We'll form a full team tomorrow." 

"Yes sir," Bill replied, rising from his chair. "I'll get in touch with Sadat and work out the details." 

"I'll expect a report of your findings tomorrow morning." 

"Yes sir." 


	3. Pushing Apples

As with the previous chapter, I don't own Bill Weasley and the other characters reside inside my head. Enjoy :) 

* * *

**Chapter 2: Pushing Apples**

Bill Weasley and Abdullah Sadat found themselves knee deep in a muddy creek bed outside of Abydos. "Remind me never to let you lead the Apparation again," Abdullah grumbled, wiping stray mud splatters from his shirt sleeves. 

"You said you wanted to Apparate outside of the city limits," Bill replied with a shrug. "I've never been here before. It was an educated guess." The pair slowly pulled through the muck and up onto dry land. With a quick flick of the wand, the mud was removed from their clothing. 

"So," Bill started as they walked towards the town. "All Leftwick told me was that there are unusual vibrations coming from the place." 

Abdullah nodded. "It's strange, really. You would've thought that we would have noticed something like this before now. It doesn't seem to be your standard entry-prevention ward. It doesn't even seem to be a more popular 'mummy ward', as a couple of the guides have lovingly coined it." 

"Mummy ward?" 

Abdullah laughed. "You wouldn't have had experience with those. It would never be used to guard an inner burial chamber like an entry-prevention. No, a 'mummy ward' is a curse that makes entrants believe that something is going to get them. You know, pop out of the walls, drop from the ceiling, chase them down the chamber… that sort of thing." 

"That a mummy is going to emerge from the tomb?" Bill added. 

"Exactly!" Abdullah replied, smiling. "They're quite fun to watch. We at Gringotts don't bother removing those. The workers who set them in ancient times, we believe, were doing it for the laugh. And far be it from us to ruin one of the longest running jokes in history." 

The city of Abydos wasn't one that many casual tourists considered on their usual travel itinerary. It didn't have the western comforts of Cairo, and therefore Muggle tourists were usually limited to researchers who came to study the vast number of burial sites in the area. However, despite the apparent lack of modern comforts, it did hold a rather large wizarding population and likewise has become known to Muggle travelers as a 'site to see if you want something weird to happen' to quote one of the brochures that Bill had found lying around one the bazaars in the Cairo cities. Those Muggles who did come found it very exciting when something seemed to 'magically' appear on a bazaar table, or claims of odd sounds or languages spread throughout the town. Because of this, the wizarding establishment did very little to discourage interaction with tourists, short of outright exclaiming 'oh look - I'm a wizard… want to pull my wand?' 

And because of this high tolerance for magical happenings, Abdullah found it easier to extract information from the citizens here than in places such as Cairo. There one had to be more careful whom discussed magical happenings with. Here, one needed only to walk up to one of the shopkeepers and ask. Which was precisely what the pair planned to do. 

Bill grabbed an apple from one of the carts. "So, do you have any idea who we need to talk to?" 

"What we need-" 

"What you need is to pay for that apple you have just stolen!" 

Bill and Abdullah turned their attention to the angry, obviously old and weather-beaten man standing beside the apple cart. Bill guiltily slipped the once-bitten apple behind his back. "Forgive my friend," Abdullah replied. "He is a bit impetuous. I cannot take him any where without him causing trouble." He smiled, reaching into his pocket and retrieving two silver sickles. He tossed them both to the cart keeper, who hastily bit into the pair to prove their value. 

"One for the apple," Abdullah explained, leaning closer to the cart keeper, "and one for answering a question." 

The cart keeper moved his eyes from the easily-gained silver in his hand to meet Abdullah's gaze. "Anything for such a loyal buyer, Mr… hmm…" 

"Sadat," Abdullah supplied. 

"Mr. Sadat," the cart keeper repeated. "And your friend?" 

"Weasley," Bill replied, glancing suspiciously at a trio of women who'd stopped their weaving in a neighboring enclave to listen to the conversation. 

"Mr. Sadat and Mr. Weasley, I am Al-Baradai," the cart keeper said with a smile. "Whatever I can answer, I shall answer." 

"We have been informed of some odd things happening on the far side of the city," Abdullah explained. 

"Vibrations of sorts," Bill continued. "Do you know anything about that?" 

Al-Baradai paused, rubbing a hand absently through his graying beard. "It is strange. I do not go to that part of the city, but you are not the only two to be looking for such a disturbance." 

Bill perked up. "Who else has been asking?" 

"I… do not remember…" Al-Baradai murmured. Abdullah reached into his pocket and tossed the merchant another silver sickle. "Ah yes, it is coming back to me," he replied, pocketing the money as soon as he caught it. "There were two foreigners, a man and a woman. They came thought not more than an hour ago. Asked me the same question. And I gave them the same answer I shall give you." 

Bill leaned in closer. "Which is?" 

"To the North in Umm el Ga'ab," Al-Baradai answered. "The cemeteries are located in Umm el Ga'ab and there has been talk of an unsettling feeling laying down upon the area." 

"What sort of unusual feeling?" Abdullah asked. 

"I… cannot remember the specifics," the merchant murmured, laying an open hand upon the cart. Abdullah filled it with another sickle. "I think I may remember," Al-Baradai replied. "I have heard it from wizard and Muggle alike." 

Bill nodded. "Thank you, you've been most helpful." 

Al-Baradai bowed slightly. "I do what I can, which is not much considering that I am but a humble merchant, pushing my apples." 

Bill and Abdullah moved quickly through the winding streets of wizarding Abydos before finding and slipping into an alleyway to talk. "I thought you said that it was one of the pyramids," Bill asked, dodging children running from shop tent to shop tent. "The pyramids are on the southern side of the city." 

"We thought that it _was_ one of the pyramids," Abdullah replied. "And I still think it could be." 

"But the guy back there said that that wasn't where all of the noise was coming from," Bill said, motioning back at the apple pusher. "I think we should go on that." 

"And I'm just saying that our detection charms have not had a faulty reply yet," Abdullah countered. 

Bill glanced out from the alley and into the streets of the bazaar. "Ok, this is what we're going to do. You head to the pyramids and I'll head up to Umm el Ga'ab. That way we'll get both of the areas searched before nightfall and be able to tell Leftwick something." He tapped his wand on a string of beads he wore around his wrist, and did the same for Abdullah. "The communication charm is set. I'll notify you if I find anything." 

Abdullah nodded. "Agreed." 


	4. Umm el Ga'ab

**Chapter 3: Umm el Ga'ab**

Bill hadn't realized how far Umm el Ga'ab was from Abydos proper until he overheard a pair of children laughing at him as he informed their mother that he was going to walk there and needed directions. They promptly informed him that it was 'so far out into the desert' and that 'only a crazy man with a camel could make it out there before dark.' So, of course, he promptly asked the location of the closest place he could rent a camel. 

He ended up outside the Al-Ghazali Camel Corner. It was one of the few places that catered exclusively to tourists, as if one couldn't tell from the gold leaf, Arabic-shaped words on the door post. "Excuse me," Bill called out, pushing the door open with a squeal and a creak. "Is anyone here?" 

"Ah, come in! Come in!" A short, round man came bounding out from behind a fabric hanging that led to the back work rooms. "Welcome to Al-Ghazali's Camel Corner," he said with a grin. "I am Khalid Al-Ghazali. What fine things can I help you explore today?" 

"Mr. Ghazali," Bill replied with a quick glance up to the price wall to confirm that the man was a Muggle. "I'm in need of a camel." 

"But of course!" Khalid exclaimed, all but pushing Bill out of the structure and into the sunlight. "Everyone needs a quality camel, and you've come to the right place to find one!" He motioned to the bevy of camels tied to posts and water troughs along the sides of the buildings. "What is your purpose for renting a camel? Where are you headed?" 

Bill turned his attention from the slobbering camels back to the camel dealer. "I'm headed to Umm el Ga'ab," he replied. "Field work." 

Khalid nodded. "Ah, I assume you are an archeology student then?" 

"A professor, actually," Bill replied, relishing the chance to sound intellectual for a change. "Dr. William Weasley, Ancient Egyptian Studies at Cairo University." 

"How exciting!" Khalid exclaimed, leading Bill to the first camel at the trough. "For such a distinguished man, only a distinguished animal will do." He untied the camel and thrust the rope into Bill's hand. "Meet Ra, the Champion of the Desert, as we at Al-Ghazali's Camel Corner like to call him. He is a fine work animal, and very easy to direct. And so much energy! Why, he'll keep going, and going, and going, and-" 

"I'll take him!" Bill snapped, effectively shutting the other man up. "He seems like just what I need." 

Khalid grinned and pulled a clipboard off of the outside table. "Wonderful, Dr. Weasley. Just sign here," he said, pointing to the line at the bottom of the sheet. "And here, and here," he added, flipping the pages. Bill signed the sheets, one after another, until there was nothing left but an empty clipboard and Khalid smiling back at him. "And I hope you have a wonderful day. Ra is yours for 6 hours." 

Bill hoisted himself onto the beast and waved off the camel keeper. "Merlin help that man…" he mumbled, turning Ra in the direction of Umm el Ga'ab. 

-*- 

Umm el Ga'ab wasn't your standard tourist fare. While most people, Muggle and wizard alike, flocked to south Abydos to explore the pyramids, the ruins in northern Umm el'Gaab were less grandiose. It was usually frequented by university students from Cairo and the occasional seventh-years from the Alexandria School of Sorcery who were preparing for their Ancient Charms exams. With so few people passing through, the section of town that used to encircle the tombs had moved all of their operations south to Abydos, leaving the area nothing but sand and slowly eroding buildings. 

Bill led the camel to the entrance of the first tomb, leapt down from the beast and fastened it to a pole protruding from the gate. He glanced up to face the animal, muttering "Stay" - as if it would do any good. 

Retrieving his wand from his belt, he whispered a quick _Lumos_ and glanced around the opening. Everything seemed in order, no stones overturned, no rubbish lying around. His eyes surveyed the stairs and found what he'd been looking for - two sets of footprints invading the collected dust. "I found you," he mumbled, following the footsteps further into the tomb. "Now, what are you looking for…" 

Five hours and three tombs later, Bill stood at the entrance of the fourth and final tomb. The other three had been a disappointment. There were always the two pairs of footprints, but nothing disturbed in the heart of the tomb. It was as if someone just came to walk around and take pictures. But that wouldn't explain the odd vibrations, he considered. 

The fourth tomb was identical in shape and to the previous three. However, as Bill crouched down closer to look at the same offending footprints, he realized there was no residual dust in the center of the footprint. 

They were fresh. 

Bill pointed his illuminated wand as far out as he could, steeling himself for whomever could be in the tomb. "Come out, come out," he muttered under his breath as he walked into the elongated hall. 

His concentration was interrupted by the sounds of hurried whispers coming from the center chamber. Bill extinguished his wand and crept to the opening of the center room. He flattened himself against the wall and peered slowly around the corner. 

Two people, a man and a woman, speaking with American accents. There was a large urn sitting atop a stone pedestal that seemed to be the center of their attention. It wasn't a spectacular piece, maybe three hundred galleons at the right auction. But this was where the vibrations were coming from. Bill could feel it standing so close the chamber. 

"It's beautiful, Lee," the woman whispered. 

"And it's about time we had some luck," Lee replied. He smiled and draped an arm around her shoulders. "Liz, we've struck gold here. Do you know how many people would kill for this thing?" 

Liz rolled her eyes. "Yes, I do. If I remember correctly, that's why we're here. Gold, power beyond all imagination… that sort of thing," she laughed. 

Lee didn't respond. His eyes focused on the chamber entrance. "Did you hear anything?" 

Bill pressed himself closer to the wall. These two didn't sound like petty thieves. There was something odd, with such interest in such a blatantly worthless piece of pottery. Something was causing the vibrations, it must be the urn. 

"No, I didn't hear anything. You're just getting paranoid." 

But what could be so valuable about the urn? Were they wizard or Muggle? Did they even know about the vibrations? 

A scream pierced the air, followed by a crash and thud. Bill shot from against the wall to inside the chamber with his wand aimed and ready. The woman was lying motionless on the floor and the urn was beside her, fallen but unbroken. The man snapped out of his surprise to pull a wand on Bill, but it was no use. Bill had expected as such and the wand was soon on the ground near the urn and the woman. "Who are you?" 

The man froze. He stared at the urn and then at the woman he'd called Liz. 

"Trying to Apparate won't do you any good down here," Bill answered, checking the woman's pulse. "The unusual activity as of late has prevented that. But I'm sure you already knew that." He tapped his wand to the beads on his wrist. "Abdullah, I need you and a couple warders at tomb four in Umm el Ga'ab. I think we might have someone who can answer our questions." 

"Is everything fine over there? Why do you need warders?" Abdullah answered. 

"I think we might be dealing with something more dangerous than we thought." 

"Are you hurt?" 

"No. Remember the pair Al-Baradai mentioned? The man is fine, but the woman is dead." 


End file.
